Divinity
by Thirrin73
Summary: "How was I supposed to know the paintings were enchanted!" In which Sakura accidentally releases 8 magical knights from a 500 year old spell, all intent on protecting her from some evil sorcerer. When she said she wished her life was like a fairy tale, this wasn't quite what she had in mind. [MultiSaku, SakuCentric]
1. Chapter 1

_**Divinity**_

 **\- Chapter One -**

 **A Mess is Made**

 **: :**

Had Sakura known how unbelievably _dusty_ the museum was, she might have had second thoughts about applying for the job.

Ok, sure, a little dust was to be expected. Yeah, it was one part museum, one part library (though they didn't rent out books, which was a shame) and 99% of the contents of the museum were old as shit.

But, seriously, when was the last time someone grabbed a feather duster?

Muffling a sneeze in her elbow, Sakura frowned to herself and finished dusting off the tops of the _M_ books, tossing her ruined rag into the cart with all the others. Leaning back slightly on her ladder, she admired her work for a moment before giving it a nod of approval and climbing back down to the ground. Turning back to her cart, she quirked an eyebrow at a book that some visitor must have left for her to put up, sitting inconspicuously on a corner.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura grabbed the book and checked the spine – " _Surviving the Outdoors: Helpful Remedies from Common Plants_?" – one hand on the cart as she headed towards the 500 section.

The library was by no means as large as the actual museum part, but Sakura was still inwardly glad that she had spent that free period senior year as the librarian's aide. The curator of the museum had no patience for training new employees with anything other than the basics (and Sakura liked to think that she had impressed him with her Dewey Decimal System knowledge), so she was left mainly to her own devices while she kept the library in order.

Speaking of the curator…

Sakura paused as she rounded a bookshelf corner, watching as the red-haired curator hurried past the entrance to the library and down a hall, eyes pinned to a clipboard as he made his way undoubtedly to his office.

She was a little ashamed to admit that the source of her initial interest in the job was Mr. Sourpuss himself.

Yeah, ok, he was kind of cute. But _Akasuna-san_ (as he preferred to be called – "I have no desire for any form of familiarity, Miss Haruno") turned out to be pretty damn insufferable. Fortunately, she didn't really see him that often. Sasori was pretty busy running the museum and being a reclusive shut-in in his office.

But, besides grouchy red-heads and dust bunnies the size of dogs, the job was pretty fantastic.

Well, maybe Sakura just thought so since she was a History major.

She was really looking forward to when Sasori would promote her to working in the actual museum part. Hopefully before the end of the year, considering she was just here until December for a nice gap year to earn some money before heading back to university life.

Ah, yes, the pay. It was _pretty_ nice considering she'd just been dusting shelves and putting books away the past two weeks.

Eyes scanning the spines of the books, she searched for _Surviving the Outdoors'_ spot before quickly finding it's empty space. Humming to herself, she grabbed a fresh rag and was fully intent on heading back to finish her dusting when the gongs of the grandfather clock at the entrance to the library rang out.

"Geeze," Sakura muttered, checking her phone to verify the time, "7 already? Where'd the day go…"

Shrugging to herself, she tossed the rag back onto the cart and wheeled it towards the supply room for the library, meticulously storing everything away before she was satisfied and headed to the employees lounge.

Lounge was a strong word. It was just the main backroom of the museum with a vending machine, break table, and the sign-in clock. Sakura was just about to step into the lounge when she heard someone call her name behind her, inwardly groaning as she recognized it as Sasori's.

"Ah, Haruno, there you are."

She turned to face him as he walked down the hall towards her, two cardboard boxes stacked in his arms.

"Yes, Akasuna-san?" She had a bad feeling about this.

He nonchalantly deposited the boxes in her arms, ignoring her moment of fumbling in favor of pulling a small notepad out of his pocket and scribbling something down, waving her off.

"Go take those down to storage," Sasori ordered, paying her very little attention, "the holiday section in the back. Finally found the last of the winter decorations…"

Sasori didn't wait for an answer and Sakura found a small victory in sticking her tongue out at him childishly once he turned his back, headed back down the hallway as he muttered to himself. Sighing, she juggled the boxes for a moment to pull out her phone, checking the time again. The museum closed at 7pm, sharp, but Sasori didn't lock the backdoor until 7:30. Plenty of time to get rid of this junk and beat him to the door before he gave her any other errands.

There weren't really that many other employees, but, they were all long gone by now and the walk to the storage basement was silent, the only sound being that of Sakura's footsteps. Freeing a hand to open the door to the storage area took a little effort and she groaned at the dim light.

Taking the steps carefully, she bee-lined for the back of the creepy basement, careful not to bump into any of the other storage boxes. Sakura eventually found the holiday section, nudging a fake jack-o-lantern to the side as she searched for a spot for her boxes.

"There's so much junk here." she mumbled, finding a nice perch for the boxes before grabbing her phone and holding it up for better light. She took a moment to scan the room, giving a low whistle at the mountains of boxes and shelves she could see.

Feeling her phone vibrate in her hand, Sakura took a step back to check her messages. A quick reply sent to her mother, she turned to leave, cursing softly as her foot caught on some tinsel that had escaped the box.

The box came tumbling down and she let out a surprised yelp, quickly trying to catch it before anything fell out.

Fortunately, everything stayed mostly inside the box. Except for a lone Christmas ornament that, luckily, didn't break as it hit the ground.

Instead, it rolled off out of sight and Sakura cursed again.

Making sure the box would stay put, she hurried after the run-away ornament, pausing as she realized it had been caught in the crack of a just-barely-opened door. Frowning to herself, she held her phone light up to read the sign on the door, curiosity getting the better of her.

" _Old Exhibits_? I didn't know they stored some of the actual museum stuff down here…"

A glance to her phone told her that it was just 10 minutes past 7.

Plenty of time to do a little snooping.

Glancing back down the storage hall, she nudged open the door a little further and stepped into a quaint, but stuffy room. Hand searching the wall blindly for a light switch, she managed to turn on the lights, the room illuminated gently.

With a quick glance around, she spotted a few taxidermied animals, what looked to be the decorations for an Egyptian Pharaoh exhibit, a few boxes, and some old paintings displayed on the left wall.

Eyebrows quirked, she stepped a little closer to examine the paintings.

"Time to put my major to work! Let's see if I can recognize anything."

They all seemed to be part of the same exhibit, or at least the same theme. Sakura recognized the art as Renaissance era and, crouching down as her foot bumped something, she found a plaque with dates and, presumably, the title of the collection.

"16th century," she read aloud, walking further into the room, " _The Eight Miracles._ Doesn't really sound familiar."

Sure enough, however, she counted 8 paintings in total. She made her way to the end of the room, intending to work her way back up and leave once she'd looked at all the paintings.

The first was of a knight, stereotypical shining armor and sword held up in the midst of an attack. She squinted through the soft light to pick out details of the knights face. The painting was depicting a moment of some battle obviously, the knight poised to strike. His helmet seemed to have been knocked off, laying a few feet behind him.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she held up her phone again, eyes picking out the details of the knights expression. Well, what she could see of his expression. The lower half of his face was obscured by a cloth mask. Unfortunate addition – she had a feeling he might have been a handsome knight. Grey hair, yes, but he definitely didn't _look_ like some old man.

Stepping back, she gave the painting a once over before pausing, eyebrows furrowed.

The armor wasn't quite… right. A little more staring and she finally realized that the armor had a slight samurai vibe to it. She looked over the background of the painting and realized that the setting was definitely Japanese, cherry blossom trees in the distance.

Odd.

"I know Japanese armor started adopting European characteristics around the 16th century," she mused, hand on her hip as she moved to the next painting, "But not to that degree…"

She glanced back to the silver knight, frowning to herself.

"Are these really from the 16th century?"

The next painting was another of a knight in battle, as were the next five. All of the knights seemed to be participating in the same battle, if the setting in the background was any clue, though there was no enemy that Sakura could see.

Still, all the armor seemed to be a mix between European knights and Japanese samurai.

Sakura paused, staring at the painting of a _woman_ knight, hair tied up in a bun as she took a knee, apparently catching her breath in the midst of the battle.

"It's gotta be a work of fiction. Her hair is _blue_." Subconsciously, she reached up to tuck a few stray strands of pink hair behind her ear. Ok, so maybe blue hair wasn't entirely implausible.

"Speaking of hair," she continued with a soft laugh, "this guys' is _ridiculous_."

Sure enough, this particular knight's hair was just laughably long, nearly down to his knees and just a big, wild mess of black locks flowing majestically in the wind. Still, the knight looked oddly familiar… She couldn't quite place why, but his face seemed kind of familiar. Maybe he was someone famous and she'd seen art of him before.

Shrugging to herself, Sakura looked over the six paintings once more, from the silver knight, to the brunet with the face guard, then the blue haired woman, the one with white hair and stunning sea-foam eyes (arguably the youngest of the group), and the knight with the long black hair, gaze lingering on the only knight that still had his helmet on.

His armor almost looked blue and he was, by far, the largest of the knights. Sakura gave a nod of approval at the build – "What a wall of guy." – before eyeing his ridiculously large sword with a raised eyebrow. No way that was actually a weapon someone was capable of wielding.

Oddly enough, as she looked over the faces of the other knights, she could tell that they were all of Asian descent. This was so weird… Why would art of Japanese warriors – knights? – be in Renaissance-style paintings?

Rubbing the back of her neck, Sakura moved on to the last two paintings.

She stopped for a moment, however, as the battle scene seemed to have ended with the previous six. The last two paintings were more like portraits, the knights obviously depicted as _posing_ for the artist. Whoever this odd artist was.

The second to the last was of another woman knight. She stood tall and proud, facing the viewer with a stern, battle-ready look on her face and her blonde hair pulled back. One hand rested on top of what looked like some kind of tall box, the other holding the hilt of her sheathed sword. She looked fairly young, in Sakura's opinion, maybe around early twenties.

Sakura was only 23, but it's not like _she_ was going into battle any time soon.

Shrugging, she moved on to the last of the paintings.

This was certainly the odd one of the bunch.

While the other paintings had all been full body depictions of the knights, this one was a simple torso portrait. The eighth knight also faced the viewer, smiling slightly – almost knowingly with this odd arrogant look that kind of ticked Sakura off – and making unnerving eye contact. His black hair matched his black eyes and, while there was definitely more detail in his face than in the other knights, it was kind of disappointing how… _boring_ he looked compared to the others.

Pursing her lips, Sakura gave the painting another once over before stopping, gaze zeroing in on what appeared to be a _paintbrush_ in the knights hand.

Obviously this guy was a knight, what with the armor, but maybe this was also a self-portrait of the artist? An artist knight? Kinda weird but, ok.

Sakura was pulled from her thoughts as her phone buzzed again and, with a start, she realized it was already 7:25.

"Shit, I didn't realize how long I'd been looking at the paintings."

Quickly replying to her mother's text, she made her way towards the door of the room, glancing back at the paintings before pausing for a moment. The painting of the artist knight was kind of crooked…

Sighing, she quickly moved back to the portrait, carefully grabbing a corner of the frame and adjusting it until it was parallel like the others.

Only, the moment she let go of the wood, she let out a surprised yelp, her fingers shocked suddenly as if she'd touched metal.

She squinted at the frame in distaste. Did wood normally do that?

"Whatever, I gotta get home."

She'd only taken a step towards the door when she head a low groan, like the kind you hear in old houses when the wind blows on dark, spooky nights.

Sakura paused, glancing back at the painting curiously. She waited a moment and, seconds later, there was the sound of straining wood again. Ok, spooky.

Starting to feel a little unsettled, she took a cautious step back, eyes pinned to the painting. The groan sounded again and, this time, with it came movement.

As in, movement in the _painting_.

Like, something behind the painting _pushing out on the canvas_.

Frozen in place, Sakura continued to stare with wide eyes, watching in horror as the canvas of the painting bulged and stretched outwards in places, the image of the knight distorting. There were more groans and she swore the temperature of the room dropped by several degrees.

Holy shit, was this how she was going to die?

She managed another step backwards, the canvas continuing to stretch and strain as _whatever_ was behind – _in?_ – tried to get out. All of the force finally focused on the center and, breath caught in her throat, the canvas tore.

All at once, black water began to gush out of the tear and Sakura scrambled backwards, tripping over her feet and falling onto her rear. She was instantly aware of the scent of ink and, with a small gasp, she realized it wasn't water pouring out of the painting, but ink.

She nearly screamed as the gush of ink suddenly surged into a flood, the large puddle under the portrait spreading further as the ink flowed out, just inches from her. Still facing the huge puddle of ink, she scrambled backwards until her back was pressed against one of the taxidermied animals, quickly pulling her feet closer and away from the ink.

The flood slowed to a trickle before finally stopping, a few drops still dripping from the shredded edges of the canvas. Her grip on her phone tightened and she watched the puddle still, her heart pounding in her chest.

Sakura glanced up at the ruined painting, letting out a surprised gasp.

The knight was gone.

There was a moment of silence, Sakura unsure what to do, before the ink suddenly began to _move_. It retreated backwards, the edges of the puddle pulling in until the ink started to rise off of the ground, forming an ambiguous shape in the air.

With bated breath, Sakura watched as the huge glob of paint shifted and bubbled, slowly taking form.

When the ink finally stilled, it was in the shape of a _person_ , crouched over slightly as if they were taking a knee. Sakura stared with wide eyes before she was forced to look away, a blindingly bright flash of light suddenly bursting from the center of the ink form.

Rubbing at her eyes, she looked back to see not ink, but an actual person.

The room was silent again, the temperature raising back to what it had been, and Sakura could have sworn her heart had stopped.

The person slowly straightened, standing to their – _his_ – full height, eyes closed as he stood for a moment.

Hands shaking slightly, Sakura realized it was the artist knight from the painting.

"What the _fuck_." She whispered, immediately regretting speaking as the knights eyes snapped open.

He looked around the room slowly before his gaze stopped on her, lips slowly curling into that insufferable smile. He took a shaky step forward and Sakura scrambled to her feet, backing away as far as she could.

The freaky knight opened his mouth to speak but was caught by a cough, hunching slightly as he tried to catch his breath. He took another stumbling step and Sakura quickly inched away, the two of them basically switching places as he stumbled forwards to the wall for support and she moved as far away as possible while still heading towards the door, back to the wall of paintings. She bumped the ruined portrait with her shoulder and it was knocked from its hold, falling to the ground with a soft thud. The knight braced himself against the wall, taking deep, shaky breaths.

She felt kind of bad for the guy, he seemed so out of it and that armor looked kind of heavy.

But, still, what the _fuck_ was going on?

The knight seemed to regain his composure after a few moments and turned to face her, holding his hands up slowly as if to calm her. He took a moment to clear his throat before opening his mouth to speak again.

Only this time, he was interrupted as the door to the room suddenly swung open, hitting him in the face as it opened inward and hid him from view behind it.

Sakura gave a surprised shout, jumping in shock before noticing an annoyed looking Sasori standing in the doorway.

" _Haruno,_ what the hell is taking you so long down here? Do you have any idea what time it is!"

"S-sasori! I-" she stammered, hand on her chest as her heart pounded.

"No excuses! What are you even do-" He stopped short, however, as he noticed the painting behind her.

Sasori stared for a moment, gaze shifting from annoyed, to horrified, to pretty damn pissed.

" _What_ did you _do?!"_

He stormed towards her and, desperately, Sakura glanced towards the door, struggling to explain to Sasori. She stepped away from the wall, the painting falling face down.

"Sasori! Th-there's – the painting! It-"

"Do you have any idea how old this is?!" He interrupted, crouching down to grab the frame. "It's from the 16th century! And you've _ruined_ it! This collection has been in my family's care for nearly five hundred years, I-"

He stopped mid-sentence as he lifted the painting up, noticing that the torn canvas was _blank._

Sasori was silent for a moment and Sakura stumbled further back into the room, wide eyes glancing from Sasori to the door.

The curator's expression returned to one of horror and the door slowly began to close. He stood, turning to see the knight standing there, his hand on the door as he pushed it shut.

Sasori stared at the knight with the same horrified look Sakura had and she felt oddly relieved, taking a step towards the red-head.

Only, Sasori's gaze snapped to her, sending Sakura an intense, _accusing_ look.

"You _didn't."_

 **: :**

 **notes:** ok so I initially planned on updating other stuff before I started on this bu t I had too much inspiration that I didn't want to lose so here we are

gonna try to get a few chapters of this out and then work on updates for other fics!

the knights, if it wasn't too clear, are: Sai, Temari, Kakashi, Yamato, Kimimaro, Madara, Kisame, and Konan. so expect plenty of multisaku goodness with these guys in the future (plus possibly some sasosaku, though I gotta be careful cause if I put too much sasosaku in itll be all I focus on)!

thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! please leave a review if you did!


	2. Chapter 2

_**Divinity**_

 **\- Chapter Two –**

 **A Story is Told**

 **::**

Sakura gave Sasori an incredulous look.

"Me? What did _I_ even _do_?! What the hell is going on?!"

Sasori still looked pretty pissed but, with a tired sigh, he gave her a vaguely pitying look.

"I doubt you'll believe me. It depends on what you saw, I-"

"What I saw?" She interrupted, still fairly freaked out, "I saw some _fucked up shit_ , Sasori." She rubbed the back of her head in agitation, looking kind of hysterical as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"One moment I'm looking at some portraits and, the next thing I know, paintings are ripping open and inks flowing out and some freaky painting-knight comes to life! Sasori, what the _fuck_ happened-"

"Somehow," the knight suddenly spoke, hoarse voice interrupting Sakura. He was regarding her with a strange look, somewhere between annoyed and curious. "You broke my spell."

Sasori seemed to have momentarily forgotten the knight, but he was quick to approach him, bowing respectfully as Sakura stared in confusion.

"Lord Kurosawa Sai, the Indecipherable." he addressed the knight, though Sakura could tell he wasn't quite certain he had the right name. "I am Akasuna Sasori, descendant of the Sabaku clan."

The knight looked a little relieved at the mention of Sasori's name, stiff posture relaxing slightly. "Sai will do. I'm technically not a lord."

Sasori nods and starts to speak again but Sakura cuts him off, perturbed over all of this.

" _Your_ _spell_? Sasori, just _what_ is going on?"

He sighed again, offering Sai another bow before reaching for the doorknob and motioning for Sakura to follow.

"Come with me, Haruno. You might want to sit down while I explain."

 **::**

The walk up out of the basement didn't take too long, though Sai kept pausing to look curiously at his surroundings. His steps were a little uneven at first as he stumbled around for a minute, regaining his sense of balance. Sasori was quick to offer his assistance, but the knight soon managed to walk without fear of falling, his legs getting used to movement. Sakura kept a careful distance from Sai, occasionally glancing his way.

By the time the three made it to Sasori's office, Sai had regained full mobility, carefully removing his armor as Sasori gestured for Sakura to sit.

"Before you start," Sai called, catching Sasori's full attention and Sakura's scrutinizing look, "What..." it was hard to tell whether he seemed worried or not, " _Year_ is it, currently?"

Sasori nodded to himself again, taking a seat behind his desk, facing Sakura.

"2016."

Sai was silent for a moment, obviously working some mental math.

"Four hundred and ninety-eight years." The knight glanced to Sakura, an eyebrow quirked. "You couldn't have waited another two years to make it an even five hundred?"

She bristled, gaze snapping to the red-head.

" _Sasori_."

He eyed her carefully for a moment, inwardly debating something. Finally, Sasori sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"There are some aspects of history that have been purposefully left out by much of the world."

This instantly had Sakura's attention.

"Japan," Sasori continued, "Had its first encounter with Europe much earlier than was actually recorded."

She nodded slowly. That would explain the strange armor but...

"You're telling the truth," Sakura replied, the mood of the room changing slightly to a more serious tone. "This isn't... some sort of elaborate joke?"

Resting his elbows on the table, Sasori laced his fingers together and glanced to Sai.

"Tell me, Sakura Haruno. Do you believe in magic?"

She could feel the knight's eyes on her from his place behind her, having taken a seat in the spare chair in the office, watching her reaction to the curator's question. Sakura bit back her reply of "Yeah, when I was a little girl!" and thought back to what she had experienced downstairs.

She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "After what I've seen, I'm willing to believe just about anything."

Relaxing slightly, Sasori continued.

"In Europe, towards the end of the 15th century, magic was a dying art. Those who were gifted in forms of magic were mainly certain classes of knights and common sorcerers and sorceresses. The time of knights was coming to an end and the Inquisitions of the 16th century were effectively turning the masses against magic. There were massive amounts of witch hunts in Europe during this time and the art of magic was being viewed less positively."

He paused, watching as Sakura nodded slowly before continuing. "In Japan, however, magic-users were still fairly well-respected, but the amount of people who actually had _talent_ in the area was steadily declining.

"Some decades before the start of the 16th century, the sorcerers and sorceresses of Japan encountered magic-wielding knights. Both groups adopted characteristics of the others, exchanging knowledge and aspects of their craft." Here, Sakura glanced over her shoulder to Sai's odd armor before returning her attention to Sasori, "It was after this encounter that a new breed of magic-users were born. They weren't quite knights, at least not in the European sense of the word, nor samurai either, but I suppose 'knight' _is_ the best term. Magic in Japan hadn't really been used for combat, until these magical warriors emerged. They protected the common people and their lords alike, but were sworn to only use their magic against darker forms of the art.

"However," he continued, "as the decades passed and the rest of the world began to modernize and magic itself died out, the accounts of magic-wielders were written off as nothing more than fanciful stories. Magic fell into stories of myth and then into fiction. Humans have a bad habit of not believing what they didn't experience personally..."

He trailed off, letting the new information sink in. Sakura thought back to all the fairy tales she'd ever read. When she was little, she always thought there must have been _some_ truth to them.

"Okay..." She replied, mind buzzing with all that Sasori had said. She was still slightly skeptical, but Sakura had always prided herself on having an open mind. "Magic was real, got it. Bits of history was changed, happens sometimes. But," she paused, nodding her head back towards Sai, "Who _exactly_ is he and why was he in a magic painting. And why do _you_ know so much about all of this? I wouldn't have pegged you as a guy who _read_ fairy tales, much less believed in them."

Sasori leaned back a bit, straightening a paper on his desk. "He is one such knight. I suppose proper introductions are due." He nodded towards the knight, who stood and approached the pinkette, bowing regally.

"Kurosawa Sai, the Indecipherable, member of the Miraculous Eight."

Sakura took her first good look at Sai, nerves certainly calmed. She had assumed his paleness had been because of the bad lighting downstairs, but now, in the light of Sasori's office, he was as white as paper. Still, he had some rather attractive features...

She stood but was a little hesitant with her bow, still wary of him. "Haruno Sakura. It's... nice to meet you?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Sakura." He gave her a closed-eye smile and Sakura frowned, squinting at him. For some reason, that sounded kind of sarcastic and that smile felt oddly... fake.

Nonetheless, she glanced back to Sasori. "Miraculous Eight? That plaque had said 'The Eight Miracles.'"

The red-head grimaced, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The paintings were on exhibit in America before I came in possession of them. The title was a little lost in translation."

Nodding to herself, Sakura sat back down, waiting for Sasori to continue.

"Where was I? Oh, yes, how they were trapped in paintings, okay. Where to begin..."

Sai cleared his throat after straightening his armor, deposited carefully on the extra table against the wall. "I believe I should take over the explanation now."

Sasori nodded and motioned for him to start, sitting back in his chair while all attention moved to the knight. Sai faced Sakura, but addressed the entire room.

"Many years before I was born, there was an evil sorcerer obsessed with finding a way to make himself immortal. He used dark magic and killed many innocent people in his hunt for ever-lasting life. Orochimaru, as he was known, disappeared for several years before reappearing, claiming he had found a spell that would grant him immortality. I was 12 at the time, still in training, and the land was in a great deal of terror as Orochimaru had built up a following of dark magic-users.

"The magical knights at the time battled against Orochimaru and his forces in several battles, each making it more and more obvious that the sorcerer could survive any attack, until a powerful sorceress gave them a spell that would stop him. It wasn't... quite what they expected. The spell literally froze him in place, stopping him in an instant and turning him more into a living statue than one made of stone. But, it had the desired results and the spell seemed near irreversible." He paused, crossing his arms over his chest. Sasori was paying close attention as well. Apparently he'd never heard the full story either.

"Orochimaru's body was moved to a secret location and all was well for about ten years. And then, Orochimaru mysteriously vanished. His crypt was found broken into and the guards slaughtered. It was suspected that one of his followers had found where he'd been hidden and had stolen his body, still locked in its magical stasis. No matter how much we searched, we couldn't find him. The next four years were spent in tense apprehension, the remainder of the knights still searching for sign of Orochimaru's return. Rumors began to spread that one of his followers had found a reversal to the spell and the search became desperate. Still, there was no sign of his whereabouts. Until, finally, we managed to apprehend his most loyal follower." He paused, turning away to pace the room as he continued his story.

"Six of the Eight engaged Kabuto, a formidable opponent and sorcerer who we had once thought to be an ally, and a group of Orochimaru's minions. I was not... present for the battle so I don't know the full details of what happened but, when I and Temari arrived, we found our six comrades and Kabuto, frozen in a near identical spell to what had defeated Orochimaru." Sai gave a frustrated sigh, turning back to face Sakura and Sasori.

"I was able to read the essence of the spell and decipher that, while similar, it was not as exact replica of the spell on Orochimaru and would begin to deteriorate over time until it broke completely, freeing everyone trapped. However, Temari and I decided that this _could not_ happen. Kabuto knew Orochimaru's whereabouts and, since it was obviously he who had casted the spell, he must have found a way to release him. The spell over the seven of them, our friends and Kabuto alike, was linked seamlessly. There was no way to release one without releasing the other – any _action_ taken against one, would lead to the same effect on the others." He looked away, expression grim.

"We made the decision to lock them in a deeper, slightly more permanent spell of my own creation. Myself included, so there would be no way to break the spell. However, it would not last forever, but the new time bought by the sacrifice would give our remaining comrades time to find Orochimaru. Temari was very... insistent on her inclusion. She would not be left behind and assured that her family would keep guard over us while we were locked in the spell." Sai was silent for a moment, his words sinking in. Sakura thought over his story, recalling the portrait of the woman knight that had been posing in her painting, similar to Sai. That must have been the 'Temari' he kept mentioning. She frowned. There had only been eight paintings in the basement... Crossing his arms, Sai finished his tale.

"I created the paintings, each person bound into their portrait with a magical barrier that kept them frozen, so that time would have no hold over them. If nearly five hundred years have already passed, then my spell had only begun to break." He paused, gaze falling on Sakura, "And yet, here I am. I can feel it already, the deterioration of my spell growing at a rapid pace. But," He looked to Sasori, "I am relieved to know that the paintings had indeed stayed under the care of the Sabaku clan."

Sasori looked down at his desk, expression grim as he frowned behind his hands, fingers laced together. "Not quite."

Sai looked a little unnerved.

"Sabaku Temari was – _is_ – a distant ancestor of mine, on my father's side. The paintings were under the care of my grandmother for a time, displayed in different museums for a few years while she gathered the funds to create this museum. As a child, I was taught the history of my family and shown the paintings. I had always had some skepticism in regards to the tales of magic, but I could at least understand the honor of the legacy of Sabaku Temari, if only in the sense that I would one day be responsible for the care of the centuries-old paintings." He looked up at Sai.

"Chiyo, my grandmother, left behind the entirety of the Sabaku Clan's records and remaining fortune to me, after the death of my parents. While browsing these records, I discovered that in 1796, two hundred and seventy-eight years after the paintings were created, one was stolen from the Sabaku estate."

The knight stiffened and Sakura had a feeling she knew which painting was missing.

"Kabuto's painting is no longer in our possession and has been missing for over two hundred years."

It was silent in the room for a moment and Sakura took the time to process all of this new information. Sai said that his spell was beginning to break. So would there be more knights popping out of portraits soon? She still had no idea _who_ the other knights in the paintings were, but at least they were all technically _good_. No evil sorcerer minions ransacking the museum. Right?

Finally, Sai spoke.

"Temari will be the next to emerge, but, after her, I've no idea who will be freed. Hopefully, we can find Kabuto _before_ he is released. I'm guessing that Orochimaru still hasn't been found." A glance to Sasori, who shook his head once, confirmed his suspicions.

"Can't you, uh," Sakura paused, chewing on her lip as both of the men turned their attention to her. "You said the spell is linked right? Can't you use some magic to... find this Kabuto guy's painting?"

Sai frowned, leaning against the table holding his armor.

"My body is still catching up, the last of the spell flaking off. I don't currently have access to my magic and I suspect that I won't for a few more days."

She pursed her lips in thought, nodding to herself before feeling her phone buzz in her pocket. Fumbling for a moment as she felt Sai watch her, she pulled it out of her jeans, glancing at the time. _Geeze_ , it was late.

"Well," she said, slowly standing and stretching for a moment, "I should really be heading home. This has been really fun but I'm ready to return to normal, non-magical life." She tried to ignore their stares, turning to move for the door.

"Good luck with your, er, quest though! Been nice knowing you Sai."

"Haruno."

She paused, turning to look at Sasori, who was giving her a very deadpan look. Sakura returned the stare for a moment, trying to decipher his thoughts before it finally clicked and she sent him a wide-eyed look, hand held up in defense.

"Oh, no no no no no. I'm _done_ with this, Sasori. I won't tell anyone about all this magical stuff, I promise, but I am _not_ taking part in any more of this bullshit and you can't make me. I'm _out_."

He sent her a look, Sai watching the exchange with a frustratingly blank look.

"True," Sasori said, offhandedly waving, "No one would believe you, even _if_ you decided to tell anyone what you've heard and seen tonight." She squinted at him, arms crossed over her chest.

"But still remains the fact that _you_ were the one to somehow break the spell. _You_ undid the spell on the portraits."

"Yeah, _so_? How was I supposed to know the paintings were enchanted! What are you getting at, Sasori?"

He ignored her for a moment, straightening papers on his desk.

"The knights will begin to awaken and it'll be such a shame to tell them that the one who had released them in the first place decided that she wanted no part in any of this mess that she had caused." He looked up at her, expression knowing. "I'll be sure to let them know that you were quick to abandon them to this new, horrifyingly advanced world and this awful problem that you had re-awoken."

Sakura glowered at him, lips pursed. Still, her heart tugged slightly at his words, guilt setting in. Okay, so he'd learned more about her sensitive nature in the past few weeks than she would have liked.

"It's a pity," he continued, rising from his chair, "All that knowledge and history that they possess, and no one to listen and learn." She stiffened, gaze narrowing, "Accurate information about early Japan, straight from the source..."

She frowned to herself. He was manipulating her through guilt and trying to bribe her with _knowledge._ Knowledge that she could most definitely use when she returned to school next year...

Sakura gave a frustrated groan, hands dropping to her side as she glared at the smirking curator.

" _Fine_. I'll stay and help. But, what, _exactly_ , do you even want me to do?"

 **::**

Sakura grumbled to herself all the way through the parking lot as she headed for her car, Sai following close behind her.

"I break one five hundred year old spell and I'm stuck babysitting, great."

It was dark out and had been for a while, the parking lot illuminated by a couple street lights. Blindly pulling her keys out of her pocket, Sakura unlocks her car, glancing over her shoulder as Sai jumps in surprise at the flash of her headlights.

Right, technology.

He was regarding her car with a questioning look, probably curious but still apprehensive. Maybe she was going to be spending more time explaining than actually learning.

"Think of it as like a, uhm," He glanced towards her as she spoke, fiddling with her key. "Like a horseless carriage. Boy, this is going to be harder than I thought. Here just," She moved to open the passenger door, gesturing to him to climb in. "Just sit down and, crap ok, I'll show you how to buckle up."

Sai was fairly quiet on the drive to her apartment, gaze pinned to the scenery of the city as they drove past modern buildings. Sakura inwardly wondered if it seemed like magic to him. By the time they arrived at her apartment and she'd ushered the knight upstairs, she was pretty exhausted.

Sakura tossed her wallet and keys onto the coffee table in the living room and beelined for her closet, mumbling to herself. When she returned to the living room, she found Sai inspecting the lamp, looking pretty worn out himself.

"Here, I doubt you want to sleep in the clothes you wear under your armor." She offered him a large tshirt and some sweatpants, moving towards the couch with a pillow under her arm. "Those should fit. You're about the same size as Naruto, I think, and, luckily, he leaves a lot of his clothes behind when he sleeps over. Uh, hang on."

Dropping the pillow at the head of the couch, she quickly returns to her bedroom, searching for an extra blanket and returning just in time to see Sai finish dressing, pulling down the shirt to cover what appeared to be a fairly well-toned body.

Okay. _Okay._ Right, a knight from the 16th century, but still totally a guy.

Chewing on her lip, Sakura made quick work of setting up the couch, trying to ignore the feeling of Sai's gaze on her.

"Sorry, you're stuck with the couch. There's only one bed and, shit, how many of you does Sasori expect me to house..."

"Thank you." Sai said, speaking for the first time since they had left the museum. He collapsed onto the couch, looking much more tired than he was acting for a moment before turning his attention back to Sakura.

"You made the right decision."

She frowned at him, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Yeah? How do you know?"

He gave a slight shrug, inspecting the pillow. "There's this... odd aura about you. It must be a side effect of you breaking the spell but it," he pauses, considering his words while she watched him carefully. "It pulls me to you. Well, your general location. I can _feel_ my magic better when you're near. I think the spell rerouted my magic through you, somehow."

"So..." She shifted again, head tilted slightly. She didn't _feel_ magic-y. "I'm, like, some kind of weird storage container for magic for you to siphon off of? That's... weird."

He shrugged again, stretching his arms up into the air. "It'll probably be the same for the others. If you had left, I'm sure we would have gotten our magic back eventually, but at a much slower pace. With you around, it'll come back quicker."

She rubbed her forehead, letting out a sigh. Seems like she was stuck in the middle of this mess, regardless of whether she wanted to be or not. Whatever.

Running her fingers through her hair, she points out the light switches, making sure her front door was locked before heading towards her bedroom.

"Sasori wanted us to come back to the museum before it closes tomorrow. I've _technically_ got the day off, so I can spend the day giving you a small run-down on the past five hundred years of history that you've missed." She laughs, rubbing the back of her neck. "Boy, that'll be fun..."

Sakura looked back towards the couch, feeling rather out of it. This was so surreal. Maybe she'd wake up in the morning to find that it'd all been a dream.

"Good night, Sai."

She offered a smile at his reply – "Good night, Sakura. Thank you for hosting me." - flicking off the lights and heading for her room.

With the door shut behind her, she slumped down against the wood, groaning as her mind recalled the night's events. This was _ridiculous_. But here she was, a total stranger who claimed to be an ancient knight in her home and the promise of magic and adventure in the days ahead.

Sakura went through her nightly routine on autopilot, taking a quick shower to get rid of the last of the library dust, dressing in some comfy pajamas, brushing her teeth, and hopping into bed.

She laid in sleepless silence for about an hour, staring up at the ceiling in the dark. Occasionally, she glanced towards the door, half expecting a cloaked sorcerer to burst through the door. Sighing, she turned on her side and closed her eyes, eventually drifting off to sleep, dreaming of sword fights and magic spells.

 **::**

 **notes:** holy shit so this is like the first time ive actually _updated_ a fic in years.

But! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. please excuse my butchered history and pleaseplease keep in mind that this is like totally a crack fic complete with crack pairings and altered canon family lines h ah

btw, I went back and changed sakura's age in the first chapter. **shes 23 now**. It works with the rest of the story much better and I'll get into the other characters ages later

thanks for reading and leave a review please! I plan on updating another of my fics before updating this one (plus ive also got a new story idea that ive been playing with today, but im not sure if ill get around to writing that any time soon)


	3. Chapter 3

**_Divinity_**

 **\- Chapter Three –**

 **A New Guest Arrives**

 **::**

When morning finally came, Sakura's body awoke quicker than her mind and she slipped out of bed on autopilot, still groggy and unfortunately forgetting that she wasn't alone in her apartment. Yawning into her fist and blinking wearily, she shuffled into her kitchen to pour herself a glass of juice before making her way towards her living room. She spared the sleeping form on her couch a tired glance and thought nothing of it for a few moments until her mind finally caught up.

Reeling backwards, she kept herself from tripping over her feet and stared wide-eyed at the man before slapping a hand to her forehead as she remembered, _yes_ , the previous night really _did_ happen.

Sai was indeed still asleep, his face peaceful and his breathing steady, and, all things considered, he looked like any normal guy. Distracted and still in the process of fully waking up, Sakura watched him for a few moments before finally turning away, pinching the bridge of her nose as she returned to the kitchen.

It'd be best if she acted like a proper host and made breakfast.

Only, Sakura's plans for pancakes were quickly put on hold as she remembered, right, Sai was from the 16th century. A modern breakfast, even a Japanese one, would probably cause more culture shock than anything and Sakura _really_ wasn't looking forward to trying to explain cereal and scrambled eggs to the knight.

After standing in front of her fridge for a few moments, racking her brain to try and remember what a typical breakfast during his time might have been – rice and? What else? Japan still had that ban on meat during the 16th century so bacon or sausage was definitely out – and inwardly wishing she'd taken a few culinary classes, she finally decided to just play it safe and make a few simple options, hoping Sai would be able to find something to his tastes.

In the end, she might have gone a little overboard.

Sakura felt an odd urge to take a few pictures of the array of food she'd prepared, grinning down at the small dishes of rice, pickled daikon, miso soup, broiled salmon, natto, toast (with a choice of either margarine or strawberry jam), simple omelets, umeboshi, nori, and apple and mandarin orange slices, all ready for sampling. Nodding in approval, she turned to check on the tea before catching sight of Sai standing unsurely in the doorway, his expression blank but his eyes on the table of food. She sent him a sheepish smile, running her fingers through her hair as she retrieved a pair of cups from the cabinet.

"I hope you slept well. Feel free to eat as much as you like – I wasn't sure what you'd prefer to eat and I don't know if five hundred years in a painting has actually left you feeling hungry but, uhm..." Sakura paused after trailing off, feeling a little embarrassed as Sai continued to stare at her, before quickly pouring some tea and taking a seat at the table.

Sai was quiet for a few moments before he sent her an appreciative nod and that odd smile of his, moving to sit as well. "Thank you, Sakura. It all smells delicious."

Sakura fought down her blush but sent him a small smile in reply before distracting herself with grabbing a slice of toast, inwardly wondering just _how_ she was going to get through this.

Breakfast was quiet and passed fairly quickly, though Sakura was still pretty distracted. The knight had politely sampled a little of everything but seemed to be just as lost in thought and, eventually, she felt compelled to break the awkward air.

"I technically don't work today," Sakura began, fidgeting slightly when Sai glanced up at her before continuing, "But Sasori wants us to come by the museum later this afternoon to get things ready. So, I've got all morning to attempt to catch you up on roughly five centuries worth of history, but that's nowhere _near_ enough time to even make a dent."

She nervously combed her fingers through her hair before standing, moving to gather the dirty dishes before glancing over at him. "Basically, what I'm trying to say is, well, is there anywhere you'd like to start? Any particular questions? Or do you just want to start from the top and we'll see how far we get?"

Sai looked thoughtful for a few moments, holding his cup of tea carefully as he glanced around the kitchen.

"I do have a few questions, actually..."

They spent most of the morning discussing modern technology – Sakura explaining electricity to the best of her abilities and teaching him the purposes and functions of various objects Sai pointed out. They were very light lessons since she was a little worried about overwhelming him with so much information but, eventually, she began to delve more into what Japan was like in the world today.

Inwardly, she knew she'd eventually have to get into some of the nasty events of the past five hundred years but, for now, she just wanted to teach him enough so that he wasn't completely lost.

The possibility of her having to repeat these 'lessons' to at least seven more knights was a thought she aggressively ignored.

Eventually, they took a break, the pair resting on the couch as Sai processed all of this new information and Sakura sending him a thoughtful look. After a few moments she was unable to contain _her_ curiosity any longer and she turned to face him, leaning forward and resting her chin in her hand.

Sai was quick to notice and he inclined his head in her direction, waiting for her to speak.

"So," Sakura started off, watching him attentively, "Exactly what kind of magic can you do? I know you made the whole portrait spell, but what _else_ can you do, Sai?"

He looked a little surprised by her questions, but quickly recovered, sending her a smile as he turned to face her more directly.

"My main technique involves imbuing ink with my magic." Sai explained, looking thoughtful as he figured out the best way to describe it to her. "I can bring my drawings to life, for limited amounts of time, and control them."

Sakura scooted a little closer, eyes wide with interest.

"Whoa, really? What kind of drawings? Like, of people?"

He shook his head, but smiled – this one seeming more... genuine than the others he'd given her.

"Mostly animals. Giant hawks, lion-dogs, snakes..." With a glance at her intrigued expression, he continued, reaching up to scratch his cheek absent-mindedly. "I can also transform words into smaller creatures – very useful for sending messages."

Sakura grinned, sitting back slightly as she tried to imagine it. "That's sounds so amazing! I'd love to see it."

Sai quickly replied, a pleasant feeling in his chest from her interest in his abilities.

"When my magic fully returns, I can show you."

Her smile was immediate and he couldn't help but return it as she beamed at him, a gentle, comforting feeling washing over him. The two chatted for a while longer, comparing their childhoods and giving each other brief glimpses into their lives. At some point, Sakura's phone went off and Sai watched her curiously as she texted her mother, bringing up a whole different conversation of modern day communication.

After brushing up on his literacy abilities – he could read and write, just as he'd mentioned, and hiragana hadn't changed too drastically over the past few centuries – Sakura showed him her collection of encyclopedia ( _Encyclopedia Nipponica_ and Heibonsha _World Encyclopedia_ – all twenty-six and thirty-five volumes, respectively) and tossed him a dictionary just in case before hurrying to her bedroom to get dressed. When she returned, Sai was flipping through the pages of the dictionary, obviously not too focused on the words, before glancing up at her curiously.

"I'm gonna head out and get you some actual clothes since I'm sure you won't want to be stuck in that," she gestured to his plain T-shirt and sweatpants combo, "Forever. I could probably find more of Naruto's clothes hiding around the apartment if I searched hard enough, but I'm sure Sasori will be more than happy to cover any additional expenses while you're staying with me."

Sakura grinned to herself – there was no way she was going to let Sasori make her do this for _free_.

Sai nodded quietly from his seat on the couch, glancing down at his clothing.

"I'll be back pretty soon." She continued, stuffing her wallet into her purse, "Feel free to read if you want, but I'm sure you've got a pretty big case of information overload so just, uhm, relax? Here let me show you how to use the TV."

 **::**

When Sakura returned with a few sets of casual clothes that were close to Sai's size (if, maybe, a little too big), the knight was still on her couch, thoroughly invested in some cooking show with one of the encyclopedia volumes at his side. She was pleased – it'd been a bit of a challenge to explain television to him – and greeted Sai with a smile, holding up the bags as she made a mental note to start a collection of receipts to later 'bill' Sasori with.

"We've got enough time for lunch and a shower, if you're up for bathing – just the _thought_ of being in that stuffy basement makes me feel gross..."

Sai regarded Sakura silently for a few moments before offering her that close-eyed smile once more, nodding in agreement.

"I would appreciate that, yes."

After a brief explanation of modern bathrooms and how to use her shower – he seemed to be taking everything in stride and, inwardly, Sakura assumed that his easy acceptance of all this new technology could be credited to the fact that it probably seemed a lot like magic – and a hurried apology for only having fruity and sweet-smelling soaps, Sakura left him to bathe on his own, leaving the bags of clothes in the bathroom. Sai emerged some time later, hair smelling like her shampoo and dressed almost unsurely in jeans and a loose-fitting grey shirt, and she grinned, nodding in approval before finishing up with preparing a quick lunch.

The morning and early afternoon passed by quickly with the pair lounging about in the apartment, Sai fixated with the TV and occasionally bringing a new subject of interest up with Sakura, listening attentively as she explained more modern customs and mannerisms and a brief overview of proper etiquette for people today. She was sure it would take a _long_ time for everything to sink in and for Sai to actually get used to 'modern day behavior', but she was glad that he wanted to learn.

Eventually, it was nearing time for them to meet with Sasori and Sakura quickly grabbed her purse and keys before ushering the quiet knight to the front door. The drive to the museum was mostly silent but Sakura was beginning to get used to Sai's personality, patiently answering his questions when he pointed out something they passed by, but, otherwise, sitting in silence. It was about 5:30 PM when they arrived at the museum and, surprisingly, the place looked pretty deserted.

They approached the front doors of the museum and Sakura spared the sign taped to the glass a quick, curious glance – _"Temporarily Closed for Renovations"_ – before opening the, fortunately unlocked, door and motioning for Sai to follow her. He looked around curiously as they walk through the dim lobby, heading for Sasori's office and relieved to find light shining from behind the door. Knocking once to announce their arrival, the pair barely had a moment to wait before the door was opening and Sasori – scowling, perpetually annoyed Sasori – exited his office and motioned for them to follow.

"I trust Haruno has been a satisfactory hostess." The curator said before anyone else could speak, glancing back at Sai, who simply nodded and smiled in reply.

"What's with the sign up front?" Sakura questioned, frowning at the redhead's back. "You're really closing the museum for all of this?"

"For now, it is necessary." It became apparent now that Sasori was leading them back to the door to the storage basement. "I was busy all day with making preparations and trying to figure just _what_ I'm going to do when all the knights emerge."

He paused after they made their way down the stairs, swinging open the door to the room still housing the portraits and flipping the light switch.

"Unfortunately, I didn't have time to properly clear out the room so," He looked to Sakura, nodding towards the boxes and old displays and taxidermy animals, "Get to work."

Eyes narrowed, Sakura crossed her arms and tapped a foot in irritation before replying with a simple, "I'm not on the clock right now."

Sasori gave an annoyed sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose before shooting her a glare. "You'll be paid, stop acting like a child. There's no telling what will happen as the knights appear so we need to take precautions and empty the room. I need to speak with Sai so, _please_ , Haruno, get started on this and I'll aide you when I'm finished."

The look on his face didn't leave her any room to argue and, with a huff, Sakura started clearing out boxes, glancing over her shoulder to watch Sasori usher Sai out of the room, his voice low as he spoke to the knight. They didn't leave the basement but she couldn't hear the entirety of their conversation, only catching small snippets – most of what she overheard was in regards to what magic each knight specialized in, probably to give Sasori a better idea of what to expect as the spell on the paintings broke. Sasori did eventually return to help her clear out the room and, by the time the room was empty of everything except the portraits, Sakura was beginning to feel a little nervous.

Sai's painting had ripped open and nearly flooded the room with ink – what on earth would happen this time? The knight had guessed that Temari, Sasori's ancestor, would be next and the pinkette sent the woman's portrait a wary glance before glancing down at her phone. It hadn't seemed like much time had passed since they'd arrived at the museum, but it was nearing 7 PM now and Sakura leaned against one of the bare walls, only half-heartedly listening to the men talk.

Eventually, Sakura swore she felt a sudden drop in the temperature in the room and she turned her attention to Sabaku Temari's portrait, the hair on her arms standing on end and a slight chill in the air. There was a soft groan and Sai and Sasori stopped mid-conversation, glancing over at the painting as well before approaching Sakura to stand with her as they waited. She felt a breeze brush the back of her neck and, after a moment of watching her hair begin to sway, she realized that a light wind was suddenly circling through the room.

Another groan from the frame of the painting, louder this time, and the wind began to pick up, the light breeze ruffling her hair quickly becoming stronger as the sound of rushing wind and groaning wood filled the room. Both she and Sasori jumped slightly when there was sudden movement in the painting, similar to what Sai's had done. The canvas began to bulge out and the wind became more violent, whipping around them with nearly enough force to knock her over.

"Did this happen last time?!" Sasori called through the deafening gusts, taking a step back as he tried to brace himself.

Sakura pressed herself against the wall, squinting through the turbulence to try and keep the straining portrait in her sight, and yelled back in reply.

"No! What's happening?!"

"Temari specializes in magic that harvests and controls the winds – I imagine this is a result of her abilities." Sai could barely be heard over the roar of the gusts, quickly reaching out to hold an arm in front of Sakura when she was suddenly rocked forward and nearly lost her footing. Grimacing, he took her wrist and grabbed Sasori's attention, motioning towards the open door. The wind in the room was circulating in a way that kept the door wide open, slammed against the inner wall of the room with almost too much resistance for them to move it.

All three quickly piled behind the door for cover, the wind turning violent and the remaining six portraits were banging against the wall (though, luckily, they seemed like they were going to stay in place). Sakura tried to make herself as small as possible, head down to shield her face and suddenly aware of Sai pressing against her back, keeping her between him and the door. She felt her face grow warm but ignored it in favor of trying to shout over the wind.

"It's like a tornado! This is going to get bad if it doesn't stop soon!"

As if on cue, there was a sudden _crack_ and all three heard the sound of canvas tearing, the room flooded with an even stronger rush of wind before, suddenly, it died down. Within moments, the air was still and all was quiet, save for the slow creak of the door as it slowly swung shut and the groan of the knight kneeling in the middle of the room. She looked exactly like her portrait, dressed in her armor and that odd black box at her side as she raised a hand to her forehead, a few stray strands of her blonde hair falling over her face. Behind her, the portrait was blank, the canvas ripped to shreds and even the wooden frame broken and cracked in spots.

Sai took a step forward and the movement caught her attention, her head snapping up to look at the other three people. The new knight looked relieved when she recognized Sai (but not before staring at him quizzically for a few moments, eyeing his strange clothing) and her gaze traveled to Sakura, expression confused, before she noticed Sasori.

She gave a brief, excited smile before she seemed to really _look_ at him, her expression falling as she slumped slightly. The blonde attempted to rise to her feet but stumbled slightly, Sai rushing to her side to steady her. She looked like she wanted to speak but was quickly distracted by a short coughing fit, leaning against Sai for a moment as she caught her breath. After a moment, she seemed to have recovered and, still standing unsteadily, she frowned at her fellow knight.

"Sai, where are we?"

He sent her that smile of his, patting her back gently before replying.

"I think you'll be more concerned with the current _year_ , rather than our location."

She sent him a slightly startled look before returning her attention to Sasori and Sakura, the former stepping forward.

"Lady Sabaku Temari, the Prudent, Gale of the South?"

Temari regarded him with slight suspicion before slowly nodding.

"Yes? Who are you? What is going on?"

Sasori glanced to Sai before offering her an apologetic look. "We will explain everything, but I think you'll want to sit down first."

 **::**

All things considered, Temari took the news pretty well.

Of course, she'd _been there_ when Sai first cast the spell, so it wasn't too surprising. Temari greeted Sasori exuberantly when she learned that he was a descendant of her family, briefly remarking that he looked a little similar to her father and her youngest brother.

She also seemed very interested in Sakura and spent quite a while questioning her about herself after Sasori and Sai explained the current situation. Curious about the mystery of _how_ Sakura had managed to break the spell, Temari inspected the younger woman thoroughly before shrugging to herself, sure that they'd figure it out eventually. The blonde knight was much more relaxed and was quick to thank Sakura for her hospitality when she learned that the pinkette would be housing her and Sai for the time being.

Sasori collected her armor and the long black box – which turned out to be a _huge_ folding fan, storing everything with Sai's armor in his office as he made plans for the three to return the next day.

"As long as the knights' arrivals stick to a daily schedule, we should be able to control the situation. Haruno, I'm entrusting you with helping the knights adjust for now, but I'm sure I'll figure out a further use for you once the spell has fully broken." Sakura frowned at this, crossing her arms but not bothering to argue, and Sasori continued. "In the meantime, I will be searching through my family's records to see if there's anything I've missed that might help with locating Kabuto's portrait."

Everything settled, Sasori stayed behind to finish working on a few things while the other three headed out to Sakura's car, the knights making hushed conversation as they made plans for when the rest of their companions were finally released.

Making their way out of the museum, Temari was obviously very intrigued by her surroundings but she restrained her questions for now, barely holding back a yawn as Sakura drove the knights home. She looked thoughtful throughout the drive, her curious expression soon becoming more solemn and leaving Sakura to wonder what was going through her mind.

The evening repeated very similarly to the one before, with Sakura grabbing spare clothes and bedding for Temari but, this time, she prepared a quick dinner for herself and her guests. Temari examined her kitchen curiously but, otherwise, kept mostly to herself as she steadily adjusted to the current circumstances.

Sai seemed comfortable enough by himself in the living room and soon retired to bed after dinner, dressed in comfortable pajamas Sakura had bought earlier that day and wishing the women a good night. Temari had a slightly larger build compared to Sakura, but her clothes fit well enough and, after pointing out the bathroom and assuring her that she was free to sleep in as late as she wanted, the pinkette led the knight to her bedroom.

"I've only got one couch but you can have my bed. I gonna run out of room for you guys real fast if Sasori doesn't come up with an alternative..."

The blonde was a little distracted, inspecting the pajamas Sakura had given her, but glanced up curiously when they entered the bedroom. She eyed the bed with furrowed brows for a moment before catching Sakura's arm as she moved to set up a spot on the floor for herself. Sending the knight a questioning look, she paused, head tilted slightly as she waited.

"I, ah, wouldn't mind if we shared the bed." Temari said, looking a little embarrassed. "I'd hate to force my host out of her own bed and, well," She paused, rubbing her arm as she suddenly looked very worn-out. "When I was younger, my brothers would often sneak into my room at night, so I'm used to sharing a bed and it's honestly a little... comforting for me."

Sakura had a suspicion that this was more of a request than just Temari being polite – she knew that the knight had left actual _family_ members behind and the thought of how much she must be missing her brothers was more than enough to fill her with sympathy.

Sending the blonde a gentle smile, she quickly agreed and moved to rearrange a few pillows and blankets on the bed. The mattress was big enough to accommodate them both comfortably and, with the lights out, Sakura wished the blonde a good night and let herself drift off.

At some point during the night, Sakura awoke, mind just barely conscious enough to realize that Temari was still awake. The knight was staring up at the ceiling, her expression tired and obviously unable to fall asleep. Concerned, Sakura slowly sat up and sent her a sympathetic look.

"Can't sleep?"

Temari sighed, rubbing her face before rolling onto her side to face Sakura.

"It's so quiet. I used to spend a lot of nights camping and falling asleep to the sounds of the wildlife, so it's a little unnerving for everything to be so silent." She looked a little embarrassed after admitting this but Sakura had a sudden idea, quickly slipping out of bed as she grabbed her laptop and a pair of headphones.

"I think I have a solution for that."

She spent a few minutes searching through the internet, Temari watching her curiously, before she found what she was looking for. Testing out the audio of the forest night ambience video, she set it to loop and offered the headphones to the blonde, smiling softly.

"There's gonna be sounds coming out of these," She gestured at the headphones, "So don't freak out. Think of it like, uhm, someone playing music for only you to hear? But the music is, well, here..."

Still a little confused, Temari put the headphones on as Sakura directed, jumping slightly when the audio began before sending her an excited smile. After showing the blonde how to adjust the level of the volume – she had a feeling Temari's first questions in the morning would be in regards to this – and plugging in her charger, Sakura got comfortable on the bed once more, soon drifting back to sleep.

 **::**

The blonde knight didn't wake up until early-afternoon, but Sakura wasn't surprised.

She grabbed her phone before heading out, leaving the other woman to sleep as she entered the living room and greeted Sai, who'd apparently been awake for a while now. He was browsing through one of the encyclopedia volumes and almost instantly began bombarding her with questions when she appeared. After a fifteen-minute discussion over the topic of airplanes and air-travel, Sai finally let her leave the living room, the pinkette shuffling into the kitchen.

He followed after her, the book tucked under his arm as he watched Sakura start working on breakfast, gaze attentive. It didn't take long for her to notice the way he was staring, standing next to the table with his eyes on the stove as she twisted knobs and grabbed utensils.

Grinning, she nodded him over. "You wanna help make breakfast? Best way to learn about all this stuff is to experiment with it."

He gave a small nod and, with a smile, Sakura showed him how to work the gas stove, inwardly searching through her mind for useless facts in regards to kitchen appliances. Sai would have missed the development of the _raised_ kamado but, really, the concept of cooking hadn't changed much. Being able to adjust the temperature was convenient, but it didn't take him long to start grilling the fish with almost practiced ease. The pair got to work on creating a breakfast very similar to the previous morning, though with larger portions.

At some point, Sakura realized that Sai was eyeing the rice cooker curiously and, with a grin, she nudged his arm, flipping one of the omelets.

"Wanna try it out?"

"What is it used for?"

"Rice." She laughed at his frown and waved him over, giving him careful instructions on how to use the rice cooker.

Preparing breakfast went faster with the two of them working together, but Temari never appeared. Sakura had no problem with letting the woman sleep and set aside the extra food when it became apparent that she wasn't going to wake up in time to join them for breakfast.

The morning passed slowly, TV breaks sprinkled between mock-lessons – Sai was quickly becoming invested in nature documentaries and cooking shows – and, eventually, Temari emerged from the bedroom, her hair messy and her stomach growling.

Sakura looked up from the globe she'd set on the coffee table in the living room when she heard the blonde shuffle in, smiling in greeting while Sai compared the globe of the Earth to the flat map spread out next to it, a sandwich in his hand.

"Morning, Temari. I hope you slept okay. Hungry?"

Temari eyed the sandwich Sai was eating with a curious look, an eyebrow raised, but another growl came from her stomach before she could reply. Cheeks flushing a bit, she nodded and sent Sakura a sheepish smile.

"We've got some leftovers from breakfast and I can make some more rice – sandwiches too if you're interested." Sakura mused aloud, moving to stand. "Sai probably has a better idea of your palette, so I'm sure he could make a few recommendations..."

Sai quickly put a hand on her arm, smiling up at her as he stood instead.

"Allow me, Sakura. I'm sure Temari has a lot of questions and it won't be long before we should be returning to the museum."

Sakura was a little surprised at his offer but returned the smile, waving Temari over as she watched Sai move towards the kitchen. The blonde took a seat next to her on the couch and their discussion over the past five-hundred years quickly began.

Temari was mostly interested in the government at first and Sakura spent a while explaining the current constitutional monarchy and rights of modern citizens, as well as some of the major historical events, before the conversation inevitably turned to the topic of technology. At some point, Sai called them into the kitchen and Sakura was both shocked and inwardly pleased to find that he'd made tea, apparently having figured out how to use her electric kettle on his own. She took the cup he offered her with a gracious smile and continued to answer Temari's questions as the blonde ate.

By the time they were done, Temari was very interested in the thought of a shower – or, rather, just bathing in general; she admitted to feeling less than fresh after spending nearly five hundred years under a spell and was _dying_ for a bath – and was quick to figure out how to use the shower, grinning to herself as she smelled Sakura's soaps. After freshening up, the blonde spent a few minutes inspecting Sakura's wardrobe, asking about some of the graphic T-shirts and what they referenced, before eventually tossing on some clothes.

The three left for the museum, Temari up front and inspecting the radio and AC while Sai continued to skim through one of the encyclopedia volumes from the backseat. After entering the quiet museum and greeting the curator, the group headed down to the storage basement and waited for the next knight to emerge, unsure of who it would be.

 **::**

By 10PM, nothing had happened.

Sasori had gone out to get take-out for everyone a couple hours prior when there had been no activity from the paintings and Sakura inwardly wished she'd brought her laptop. There was very little to do while they waited, but the knights took advantage of the free time by asking _both_ Sasori and Sakura any questions that popped into their heads.

Sakura stifled a yawn into her hand, in the middle of showing Sai how to use the touch-screen keyboard on her phone. Temari had headed upstairs about half an hour ago, wandering through museum while Sasori traveled to his office for a few minutes.

When he returned, he gave an annoyed grunt, leaning against the doorframe as he crossed his arms and shot a glare at the still portraits. He didn't have enough patience for this shit.

Still, he waited a few minutes longer until Temari returned as well, nodding in greeting before addressing the room.

"Alright," Sasori said after a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Obvious nothing is going to happen tonight. You are welcome to stay and spend the night in this room, but you're not obligated to."

Sakura frowned to herself, glancing to the paintings, and the curator continued.

" _I_ , however, will stay here, just in case someone _does_ emerge. It would be a bad idea to just leave and hope a knight doesn't pop out in the middle of the night with no one here to explain anything. I'd probably come back to the museum in ruins..."

Nodding to herself, Sakura stood and stretched, more than happy to head home. Sai followed suit but sent a glance to Temari, who replied with a grin.

"I'll stay as well." The blonde knight announced, smiling at the curator. "It'd help if they were welcomed by a familiar face and, besides," she paused, draping an arm over Sasori's shoulder and ignoring his sputter, "It'll give me some time to get to know my grandnephew!"

Sakura giggled to herself and bid the pair farewell, walking with Sai as they left the museum. It was pretty late in the evening when they returned to her apartment so they both were quick to head to bed. Inwardly, Sakura hoped Temari would be able to sleep well enough without the ambience audio and fell asleep making plans to bring packed breakfasts to both the knight and her boss in the morning.

However, the next day passed with no new activity from the portraits.

After preparing enough breakfast – mostly simple stuff this time, though she did make some pancakes to see how Temari and Sai liked them – for everyone and loading some blankets and pillows into her car, Sakura grabbed her laptop, chargers for both it and her phone, and a few books and drove herself and Sai back to the museum. The four spent the day at the museum, dragging some spare chairs and a table from storage into the portraits' room while they waited for _something_ to happen.

Sai and Temari were obviously beginning to get a little worried, but distracted themselves by learning all they could from Sakura and Sasori, the knights huddling around the pinkette's laptop as she browsed the internet.

Having retrieved his paintbrush, supply of ink, and scroll from the curator's office, Sai spent a while bent over the table, concentrating on the ink. Eventually, he suddenly sat up, waving for Sakura's attention, a pleased look on his face.

She sent him a questioning look and approached, sending the pair of ink mice drawn onto the scroll a curious glance.

"My magic has been steadily returning over the past couple of days, still filtering through you," He explained before nodding down at the mice. As Sakura watched, the drawings _shifted_ slightly before they seemed to lift off of the paper, coming to life before her eyes. She gave an excited gasp and crouched down next to him, watching as the mice scampered across the table before approaching her. "I'm not at full-power yet, but it's definitely grown stronger. I imagine that I'll have fully regained my magic in a few more days' time."

The mice ran around on the table, much to Sakura's delight, for a few more moments before dissolving, the ink splattering on the table. She sent the knight a grin and quickly began to ask him more about his magic, inwardly excited at the thought of him making bigger creatures.

Sasori went out for food again later in the day but, otherwise, stayed with the three in the room and, by the time the evening came, everyone was a little antsy. All four stayed the night, too concerned to leave, and made themselves as comfortable as possible on the blankets and pillows Sakura had brought. Temari gave her a thankful smile when she offered her laptop again to help her sleep, the blonde looking much more tired than she was letting on.

The basement was by no means a pleasant place to sleep, but the night passed uneventfully.

Finally, fairly late in the morning, something happened.

Sakura had just returned with pastries and tea for everyone when the temperature in the room suddenly dropped. Everyone froze, their attention snapping to the line of portraits as they held their breaths and waited.

It was silent for a few moments until there was a soft _crackle_ in the air, almost like static, and a sudden, barely visible, spark of light danced off the portrait the farthest from the door.

They all watched and another spark shot off, the sound of the electric crackling growing louder.

Temari and Sai exchanged knowing, slightly worried, glances, the former muttering a name under her breath and the latter nodding in agreement.

"Kakashi."

Sakura and Sasori were thoroughly invested in watching the sparks of electricity dart out of the seams between canvas and frame but the knights rushed to action, Temari grabbing the pinkette's wrist and hurriedly tugging her out of the room while Sai took the curator's arm and followed suit.

Sai slammed the door shut behind him and their questions were quickly cut off by a loud _crack_ , as if lightning had just struck.

In fact, it sounded like there was an entire _thunderstorm_ forming in the room. Bright light, streaked with white and blue, flashed under the door and the sound of sparking electricity and lightening grew louder and more frequent. They took hurried steps back when sparks danced through the cracks between the frame and door, the chattering and flashes growing more and more frequent until-

They stopped.

Everyone rushed forward, opening the door quickly and just in time to see a ball of while light take form in the middle of the room, quickly materializing into a person, posing very similarly to the knight in the painting. Within seconds, the light washed away and the new knight, standing in mid-strike, moved, his raised sword swinging down, but slicing through thin air.

The silver-haired man stumbled forwards in surprise, quickly looking around in confusion. His movements were frantic, but he quickly froze when he spotted his companions, body swaying before a violent coughing fit overtook him. Temari and Sai were quickly at his side, holding him steady and greeting him with happy, if slightly worried, smiles.

"T-Temari?" His voice sounded hoarse and he stumbled through his words slightly as he caught his breath. "Sai? What's going on? Where's Kabuto? What are you two doing here?"

The blonde knight gave him a quick pat on the back as she and Sai led him over to one of the chairs in the room.

The room itself was a mess, the furniture and walls scorched by the lightning strikes and a few of Sakura's blankets charred and ruined. The canvas of his portrait was tattered and burned, the ripped pieces smoking slightly and scorch-marks spread over the wooden frame. The other portraits, unsurprisingly, were unharmed.

"Well, to put things simply, Kakashi… You've been stuck in a spell – originally casted by Kabuto, of course – for almost five hundred years," Temari answered, grabbing one of the cups of tea that hadn't been knocked over and offering it to the older knight – Kakashi – before continuing. "We couldn't break the spell over everyone so Sai casted his own."

She nodded in the direction of the wall of portraits and Kakashi stared, shoulders slumping in disbelief as he took in the various paintings depicting his companions in battle.

"Five hundred...- How did-? Why are we-?" He floundered around for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say, until his attention snapped to the side as Sasori and Sakura carefully approached.

His gaze fell on Sakura, eyes widening in shock before he seemed to relax, letting out an amused, yet strained, laugh as he reached up to run gauntlet-covered hand through his hair.

"Well, _that_ explains things."

Sai and Temari exchanged confused glances and Sakura paused mid-step eyebrows furrowing.

"E-excuse me?"

Kakashi sent her a smile, looking a little dazzled, before he stood and approached her, stopping to drop to a knee and take Sakura's hand.

"I'm honored, my lady, to formally meet you. Hatake Kakashi, the Intuitive."

Sai stepped forward, sending the older man a questioning look.

"What's going on, Kakashi? Why are you acting like you know her?"

Kakshi sent him a confused frown, straightening up carefully as he replied. "Don't you recognize her, Sai? I never met her personally but I definitely know her face - there were a few portraits of her in the estate's halls."

Sai continued to frown unsurely, but he scrutinized Sakura for a moment while Kakashi gave her another smile, his cloth mask hiding his face.

"This is obviously Lady Haruno Ume."

What.

Temari's attention snapped to the pinkette, a shocked expression passing over both her and Sai's face. Sakura took a hesitant step back, blinking in confusion before she shook her head slowly, much to Kakashi's confusion.

"N-no I'm- I mean, _yes_ , my surname is Haruno but-" She sputtered for a moment, combing her fingers through her hair and just barely catching Sai mutter "I _thought_ 'Haruno' sounded familiar..." under his breath.

"My name is Sakura! I don't know wh-"

"Who is Haruno Ume?" Sasori suddenly asked, his eyes narrowed and ignoring the curious look Kakashi sent him.

Temari, who was regarding Sakura with a mix between recognition and astonishment, replied, almost unsurely. "She was a sorceress. A very _powerful_ sorceress who died years before our time. She-"

"She was the sorceress who defeated Orochimaru." Sai interrupted, frowning to himself.

Kakashi nodded in agreement, moving to take a seat once more after bowing to Sakura, who looked bewildered, mind reeling.

"B-but- But! That's not me! I'm just Sakura, not a... What is going on..?"

Sai glanced over to the blonde knight, eyebrows furrowed.

"It would... It would explain how she managed to break both spells. Lady Ume _created_ the spell Kabuto based his around."

"But that was centuries ago." Sasori interjected, arms crossed as he glanced over at the flustered girl. "Unless Sakura is over five hundred years old and is just not _aware_ of it, it's impossible."

"Yeah!" Sakura paused, rubbing her temples as she tried to make sense of this.

"Pardon me – Sakura, was it?" Said Kakashi, looking more confused as he listened to their conversation. "But you share a _striking_ resemblance to the Lady Ume. It can't be purely a coincidence."

"But, I..." Sakura groaned, leaning against the wall as she buried her face in her hands. "Maybe we're related? We're both Haruno's and I know for a _fact_ that I'm only twenty-three, so maybe- I mean- UGH, this can't be happening."

"Madara would know." Temari said suddenly, her expression serious. All eyes turned to her, both of the other knights nodding slowly in agreement while Sakura and Sasori regarded her with confusion.

"Madara?"

She nodded at the curator's question, turning to approach one of the portraits while Kakashi answered.

"Madara knew Lady Ume personally – he was her apprentice." The silver-haired man turned to send Sakura a gentle smile and Temari stopped in front of who she presumed was Madara. "Whether you are the Lady Ume herself or simply her descendant, or perhaps some sort of reincarnation, Madara will know."

"He's the only person who knows what happened to Haruno Ume, before she disappeared..."

Sakura frowned to herself and approached the painting Temari was inspecting. She quickly recognized it as the black-haired knight she'd found oddly familiar.

Her mind reeled at the thought – _what_ was going on – and she found herself unable to look away, hundreds of questions swimming through her brain as she stared at the knight in the painting, unable to figure out _why_ his face seemed so familiar to her and almost afraid to know the answer.

 **::**

 **notes:** slamdunks this chapter and ollies out im finally fuckign done with it goddamn

didn't like this chapter much but! Now we can finally get to the interesting stuff hehehe

hope you enjoyed! sorry the wait ;w; I plan to cycle through incantation, bad blood, and cherry bomb's updates before I get back to this one but! Hopefully it wont take too long!

thanks for reading! please leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter!


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